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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Quick Corn Relish

Have a hankering for some old-fashioned corn relish? But forgot to preserve any fresh corn when it was in season? No problem. We’ve got you covered with this easy refrigerator corn relish.

This recipe uses frozen corn, which is generally high quality. It’s also available year round, so you can make this relish whenever the mood strikes. The entire process takes only a few minutes. And the flavor improves over time as the ingredients mingle, so you can mix it up days (or even weeks) before you plan to serve it.

The perfect make-ahead recipe for a big dinner, wouldn’t you say? It’s especially good when you have lots of other last-minute dishes to juggle. Like Thanksgiving, for instance.

Recipe: Quick Corn Relish

Although this dish tastes great immediately after you make it, the flavor really does improve if you give it at least a couple of days in the refrigerator. It’s also a recipe for which exact measurements aren’t critical—so you can adjust quantities or substitute ingredients to make this dish your own.

We like to serve this as a side dish, but it also makes a dandy appetizer. For years we made it in November, then served it at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It dropped off the menu for a while as we tried other dishes. But now that we’ve made it again, you can bet this is one tradition we’re reviving!

This recipe is lightly adapted from one we found (decades ago) in the August 1978 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare, but the flavor is better if you allow it to chill for at least an hour before serving.

The yield is a bit under 2 cups (enough for 6 to 8 side-dish servings—the flavor of this relish is intense, so a little goes a long way). You can easily scale up this recipe if you’re feeding a crowd or just want to keep it on hand as a refrigerator staple for a month or two—it keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for weeks.

Place the frozen corn and a tablespoon of water in a microwave-safe covered dish and microwave until done (about 5 minutes for my microwave; your mileage may vary). When done, drain, and pour the corn into a small mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, celery seed, yellow mustard seed, and hot pepper sauce (if using) in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer on medium stovetop heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

While the vinegar mixture is cooling, wash the jalapeño peppers and cut them lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scoop out the ribs and seeds (be careful, the oil on these is hot; keep fingers away from your eyes). Chop the peppers into very small dice (or use a mini food processor). You want about 2 tablespoons, but measurements needn’t be exact. Add the peppers to the mixing bowl with the corn, then wash your hands with soap and water to remove the hot jalapeño oil from your skin.

Wash the green onions, peel off the outer skins, and chop off the root ends. Dice the onions finely until you have about 2 tablespoons (measurement needn’t be exact) and add to the mixing bowl with the corn. Then add the diced pimento to the bowl.

Add the cooled vinegar mixture to the mixing bowl with the corn and stir briefly to combine. Pour the relish into an airtight container. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I often like to garnish with a slice of jalapeño pepper when serving.

Notes

We’ve made this recipe with both frozen and canned corn (the original called for canned corn—use one 15-ounce can; drain and rinse corn before using). I prefer the dish with frozen corn, but canned works OK. And of course if you have fresh cooked corn available, that’s ideal.

We like to use Kosher salt in most recipes. But if you don’t have that on hand, you can use plain table salt (though I’d reduce the amount by about half since table salt is finer and more “condensed” than Kosher).

Although ½ teaspoon each of celery seed and yellow mustard seed works well in this recipe, you can increase the quantities of both by ¼ teaspoon or so and still have a well-balanced dish.

Yellow mustard seed is the variety that’s most widely available in the US. You may also see black and brown mustard seed in your market. I haven’t tried them in this dish (and their flavors are different), but they might make an interesting substitution.

This recipe cries out for spice experimentation. Cumin and coriander might substitute well for the spices we recommend (though we haven't tried them in this dish).

I generally use diced pimento for this recipe (the kind you find in jars at the supermarket), but you can substitute red bell pepper if you prefer. Just clean the pepper as you normally would, and cut into dice. The flavor will be better if you roast the pepper first, then peel off its skin.

Just Like Old Times

“Wow, this dish brings back memories,” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs. “I remember when we first made this.”

“Yeah, I think we had it for Thanksgiving the first year we were together,” I said.

“Did we even have a microwave then?” she asked.

“No, we had to use the stovetop for everything,” I replied.

“How crude.”

“There was no Google to look up substitutions either,” I added.

“And we had to walk to the grocery store,” she said. “Uphill both ways!”

“Of course, we still walk to the grocery store most of the time,” I pointed out. “Old timers like us need the exercise.”

“Yes, but remember—then there was a foot of snow every day,” she smiled. “Even in July!”

100 comments:

I love refreshing side dishes such as this corn relish! As a spicy food fanatic, this is right up my alley! Frozen corn is one of the few frozen vegetables I keep in my fridge from time to fime. I normally use it for quick stir-fry but I am glad to find another way of using it! Thanks a lot for sharing!!

I'll admit to you that I have a couple ears of fresh frozen corn in the freezer but, I don't think it would be enough for the dinner I'm making for Thanksgiving. I figure that justifies me saving it all for myself, lol...

However, I do have corn on the menu and since I can't usually spice things up for me and Marion, I sure can for company! I'll be saving this John. I'm trying to have most things ready before company arrives and since this recipe is sure to improve with age (much like you and the mrs. I assume:) I'll give it a go!

John....such a beautiful side....full of color and flavor! I have been buying corn relish from Trader Joe's...and oddly, I add it to soups and stews that need a bit more flavor....but I'm just not sure how to doctor it! Now that you've shared your easy recipe....I can keep this on hand for myself! Oh..and Mrs. KR's neglected to point out that neither of you were wearing shoes! ;- }

Hi Anne, I've actually been toying with the idea of making a corn relish soup, although probably more of a chowder. So I like the idea of adding relish to soup! Haven't done it with a stew, though - I'll have to give that a try. And you're right that we weren't wearing shoes! Thanks for the comment.

Those were simpler days in my opinion. But corn relish is good now too, and we have to give frozen vegetables a lot of credit, they're really good. I especially like that this gets better after a few days. Jalapeño is the best, I love it. And I can imagine this on a chorizo or steak sandwich!

Hi John , what a delicious corn relish recipe to make ahead for the holidays , I keep frozen corn , peas and baby carrots in the freezer . Need only two words to describe this recipe , yummy and delicious , thanks for sharing :).

August 1978, you must have been a baby, already checking out culinary magazines. I guess it's just in the blood! This sounds wonderful, I'm pinning it, will definitely try it. I always forget about the appetizer!

You could go a couple of different ways in serving this. Chips or some sort of cracker that you can use to scoop it up would be the easiest. If you're setting out plates and forks, you could also spoon some on a plate and eat it that way. We actually serve quite a few appetizers like that - people take little dabs of this and that, in addition to finger food.

such a delectable corn relish and recipes like these are most useful for us...quick to make and lip smacking delicious flavor in every bit...loved the color,ingredients and gorgeous food clicks,thanks so much for sharing :-)

I love that you don't have to use fresh corn for this. I LOVE corn and this looks worth loving. Walking to the grocery? That will work. We walk to the Pancake House! I think it defeats the purpose! Good recipe, John!

Hi Abbe, this is a great recipe - I think you'll like it. We do drive to the grocery store once a week to pick up heavy things, but normally we'll walk there several times a week. We do a ton of walking - we actually walk more miles a year than we drive! Thanks for the comment.

I am extremely thankful this year for all the great make-ahead dishes from my favorite bloggers, since I don't even get an early day on Thanksgiving Eve. I try to have as many colors as possible on Thanksgiving, and now I have my yellow!

Ha ha! I tell my kids that there was once a time when you had to plan a day ahead for baked potatoes. This was about the same time you had to get up to change the channel on the TV. Oh, it wasn't all that bad. We could still have delicious little dishes like this. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for this great little recipe.

I remember Bon Appetit. My mother used to buy the magazines. Wasn't there also a cooking show? What a lovely looking corn relish - it must have so much flavour. As I was a big fan of Bon Appetit, I'd love to make this xx

Unlike Brussel Sprouts we do eat corn a lot. We all love it, in salsas, just plain or the side, in patties, or anyway we can think of. This sounds like a nice side dish or to add with other things to use as a dip or too scoop up with tortillas. Very nice and so simple!

Hi Kitchen Butterfly, I love color in food! Flavor comes first of course, but color second. And if I can include texture too, bonus! Plus texture is so much fun to photograph. ;-) Thanks for the comment.